Chapter 58

Sleep had evaded her. Annoyingly. She rolled onto her left side, staring at the little digital clock on the little bedside table in her little hotel room. It certainly wasn't as big as any of the resorts she had stayed at the last three days. The green numbers on the front of the clock were much too bright for her liking. She had to squint.

Three-thirty.

Holy hell, it was early. She had been up since like what, five in the morning? Save for the nap she had at the workshop the previous evening, she was running on fumes. Everything ached. But her body refused to surrender to the night. Weiss rolled onto her back, staring up at the dark ceiling. It taunted her, as if it was saying we're asleep and you're not, loser. She frowned, drawing her arm across her eyes. The ceiling could go fuck itself.

I wonder how she's doing? She must be lonely...

Weiss nodded to her inner self. Ruby would, at this hour, likely be sitting in a hospital chair, waiting for everyone to wake up and return to the hospital. Maybe she needed company? Weiss shrugged to herself. She was awake anyways. She sat up slightly on her elbows, looking around at her roommates. On the bed across the room lay Yang and Nora, splayed out on top of the covers, tangled in each other like a ball of string. On the pull-out couch against the windows lay Ren and Sun, a line of pillows separating them so they wouldn't accidentally touch butts. She smirked slightly, flopping back down on her bed. The person she was sharing her bed with exhaled slightly louder than usual. She turned to her right side, observing her bedmate.

"Blake!"

She tried to whisper loud enough for the faunus to hear, but quiet enough to not wake the others. The woman stirred slightly, not awoken. She tried again, blowing slightly on the woman's nose.

"Blake, are you awake?"

Dumb question, she knew, but what else was she supposed to say? Blake furrowed her brow, frowned, but didn't open her eyes. Weiss reached out a finger and gently poked her in the arm.

"Blaaaaake!"

The amber eyes opened. They had an almost savage feline glow to them in the near-darkness of the room. It actually scared her into silence as the faunus glared menacingly at her.

"Weiss, you better have a good reason to wake me."

Her whisper was hoarse and raspy, that of a person forced against their will to be awake. Weiss shrugged, answering sheepishly.

"I can't sleep. I'm worried about Ruby and Pyrrha."

Blake looked like she was actively trying to be angry. She stared for no more than a few seconds, before sighing and closing her eyes again and rolling onto her back.

"Okay, I won't kill you today. I guess that's fair."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. She had planned on killing her? Well. That was certainly justified, she guessed. Even she herself would threaten murder if someone woke her from her beauty sleep back at the manor. She remembered very nearly stabbing her brother to death earlier that year when he had tried to come in her room and bring her breakfast. For her birthday. And she had nearly killed him! Poor Whitley had never entered her room again. Blake stirred next to her, sitting up in the bed. Weiss followed her up.

"C'mon. CoffeeHaus should still be open at this hour. You're buying."

Coffee at this early in the morning? Well, perhaps it would at least make her feel a little better. Weiss sighed, remembering that CoffeeHaus coffee was rather expensive for what it was; just kind of bland. She slung her legs over the side of the bed, her socked feet gracefully hitting the floor without noise. She looked back over to where Blake was, watching her carefully standing and striding towards her bag on the table. Weiss smirked. Of course Blake could navigate the near-pitch black room with ease, she was a faunus! Of course, in her own eyes, there was not much to see. The room was blanketed in darkness. She stood up, following the other woman around to where their bags lay, and pulled a rather expensive-looking white overcoat out of hers. It was put on with care, so as to not smack the now-kinda irritated faunus.

"Shouldn't we get dressed?"

Blake shook her head no, before moving towards the door. Weiss paused, unsure of what to do. She looked down at her pyjamas. Plaid, flannel, not particularly attractive. But, considering the time of day, would anyone really care? She shrugged, deciding to let it be, and followed Blake out into the dimly lit hallway of the hotel. Once the door had closed, they both let out a sigh. The silence of the hallway was unnerving, however. The fluorescent lights above them hummed weirdly, an almost eerie whine coming from them. Weiss pulled her jacket tighter, noticing that Blake had done the same with her own navy coat. Clearly she didn't enjoy the spooky silence either.

They very swiftly found their way down to the lobby, electing to bypass the elevator using the stairs. The previous night, the elevator had decided to throw a hissy fit and cease to operate correctly, refusing to budge from the first floor. The receptionist was at his desk, entirely oblivious to the two women who were walking through his lobby, as he seemed to be distracted by his computer screen. Weiss though she could hear the sounds of gunfire coming from it, and judging by the consistent clicking of his mouse, she guessed he was playing some kind of shooting game. Perhaps it was Foreordination, the one first-person-shooter she was actually good at. Maybe this guy was the infamous Pu$$ySlayr69 she always had to fight against. She scowled at him as Blake pulled her out into the parking lot.

"Hurry up. You walk too slow."

Weiss turned her attention back to Blake.

"Yeah, well... You walk too fast!"

Nice comeback.

Weiss rolled her eyes at the helpfulness that was Inner Weiss. They approached Blake's car. The large, imposing black police sedan sat quietly to one side of the parking lot, between Ren's XR-Coupe and Yang's rented Sanus SUV. The LED headlights flashed on, and the quiet thunk of the car's central locking system was the only sound in the otherwise silent town. Weiss strolled slowly over to the passenger side, the sound of the snow under her boots almost sounding like cannonfire, and pulled the large door open as Blake did the same on her side of the car. They both dropped into their seats simultaneously, the heavy sedan rocking slightly as its occupants' settled in and pulled the doors closed. Weiss pulled her seatbelt on as her driver cranked the quiet eight cylinder engine into life.

"First time in the front seat of one of these?"

Weiss turned and scoffed.

"Are you saying I'm a delinquent, Belladonna? Because I'll have you kno-"

"Weiss, geez, I'm kidding. I already know your record is clean, it was just a joke."

Weiss smirked. She was fully aware of the joke. Not that Blake needed to know. She just needed to be humbled a little, that was all.

"Well. Your humour skills are quite lacking, I'm afraid."

Blake dropped the transmission into gear, and the heavy cop car pulled out of the parking spot with ease.

"Says you, Schnee."

Weiss gave a huff, hiding enough humour in it to make the woman smile visibly. They pulled out onto the main road, the police car's all wheel drive and winter tires tugging them forward with grace and silence. She didn't want to admit to being impressed by the car's smoothness. It was a cop car! It had no reason to be impressive! Speaking of, the car's siren and light controls sat very much in reach of her left hand. It was currently taking all of her strength to not reach over and push the button labelled 'WAILER', as Blake would likely remove all her skin with a rusty knife if she did. Then, as if she was telepathic, Blake spoke up from the driver's seat.

"I know you're thinking about it."

"Puh-lease! Just once!"

Blake sighed and smiled, grabbing the control box and lifting it off of the velcro pad it was on and handed it to her, the little coiled cable that connected it to the console twanging like a guitar string. Weiss gingerly took it, awestruck.

"Fine, you may whoop it once. But this is kind of illegal. I really hope there are no patrol units out at this hour."

Weiss nodded with force, acknowledging this fact. Her thumb hovered above the little plastic switch, aching to press it. She had literally just been given permission. She pushed the button.

WHOOP WHOOP

the noise the car made scared her enough that she actually dropped the control box into her lap. Blake laughed at her from the other seat. Well, it was less laugh and more amused chuckle. Gingerly, she replaced the control box back onto it's place on the console. That was enough silly fun for the day, she thought. Sliding down in her seat, she idly brought her hand up and fiddled with the handle on the car's spotlight. Blake pulled the car into a parking lot on the right side of the road, parking up beneath the brightly lit sign that read COFFEEHAUS in obnoxious green neon letters.

"Got your wallet?"

The question caught Weiss off-guard. So much so, she actually had to check whether or not she actually did. Her hand slipped into her front pocket on her coat. Nope, she definitely had it with her.

"Yeah, of course."

"Good. I'm gonna order the most expensive latte I can get with every topping. And whipped cream."

"Y-yeah. My treat."

What kind of heathen orders a latte with whipped cream? Weiss fought the overwhelming urge to cringe violently at the idea as she got out of the low-slung car. Her back briefly groaned in displeasure as she hoisted herself into a standing position. Even being as short as she was and as low as the car was to the ground, it still took more effort than she would have liked.

"C'mon, Schn-"

"I'm coming! Geez, don't rush me!"

Weiss pulled her coat tighter around her torso, trying to not let some of the blowing snow into her clothing. Lucky for them, the parking lot was plowed, so she could see the patches of ice that littered the pavement. Blake held the door open for her and she stepped into the coffee shop, saying a brief and quiet 'thank you' to the taller woman.

The inside of the coffee shop smelled kinda weird. Like coffee, sure, but also like all of the espresso shots mixed together. It was an assault on her nose. They walked up to the counter that was attended by only a single barista, a young-looking kid with vibrant blue and purple hair and thick black glasses. She looked as if she was trying to be hip. She was probably one of those nocturnal students taking night classes, she figured. Weiss ordered herself a fully-caffeinated black coffee, letting Blake order her fancy wrong latte as well. She briefly fumbled with her wallet, paying for their orders. Before long, they were sitting at a table by the window, their coffees dimly lit in the not-yet morning light.

Weiss took a sip of her coffee. It was really strong. But, it was working to wake her up. She paused, looking cautiously at her cup. She couldn't remember why she had stopped for a second. Placing the cup down, she found herself staring intently at the white porcelain cylinder. Didn't Ruby take her coffee black? No, of course not. It was cream and five sugars, because the younger woman enjoyed trying to give herself diabetes. Blake didn't usually drink coffee, and Yang was a tea and Jack Daniels kind of girl. It came to her.

"You know, Pyrrha takes her coffee straight like this. No milk, no sugar. Just pain in a cup."

Blake made a face behind her cup, setting it down on the table with a muted clink.

"Yeah that always confused me. She was a firm believer in drinking coffee as thick as tar, yet never letting Nora have any. I mean, she was the best fighter of any of us yet she never showed signs of caffeine high or the shakes."

"You spent a lot of time having coffee with her?"

Blake shrugged and took another sip.

"Well, I spent a lot of time in the library studying, and conveniently so did her and her team. If they were a bit loud. We used to buy each other coffee. Frequently. Unlike you, who spent most of your time in our room with Ruby."

Weiss blushed, hiding the sly smile at the hidden implication of that sentence. Even Blake smiled, a rare event for the usually disgruntled woman. Weiss twisted her face into an amused visage.

"I'll have you know, there was no hanky and certainly no panky occurring when you were out."

Blake chuckled, taking another sip of her latte. Some of the foam collected on her top lip, making her smile.

"I think I would have known. Faunuses have increased senses, and I can smell sex from a mile away."

Weiss huffed.

"Well, I never..."

"Weiss, chill out. I'm only teasing you."

She crossed her arms over her chest, huffing again and turning away, causing the woman across from her to smile and release a small chuckle. She brought one hand up to her mouth, covering her own cheeky smile. She watched Blake take another sip of her expensive and ludicrous latte. There was a brief twinkle of polished metal from inside the faunus's jacket. Her badge, she guessed.

"Hey, you know, I don't think you've ever told me why you became a cop, you know?"

Blake looked over at her sideways, her face turned out the window. She placed the cup back down on the table, a pensive look on her face.

"I haven't?"

"Nope."

"Huh. Well, I suppose it's important. You remember what I did...before attending Beacon, right?"

Not that it was hard to forget, of course. Blake had been a rather prominent member of the global terrorist organization known as The White Fang. Or at least she had been prior to it becoming a radical movement. When Blake had been a member, it was a peaceful society of Faunus who protested the poor treatment of their species. Weiss nodded, signifying her understanding. Blake shrugged, looking around.

"Well, if you can believe it, it was actually Pyrrha who suggested I pursue a career in law."

Weiss raised her eyebrows.

"Did she, now?"

Blake let out a very muted and dejected sigh. Almost as if she was trying to hide the shrug in her shoulders.

"Yeah. Well, you might not know or believe this, but Pyrrha never really...liked me all that much. B-because of the White Fang gig, actually."

"Yeah, but... you were with them before the bad stuff, right?"

Blake winced.

"Well, I was there right at the end of the peaceful stuff. After my dad got succeeded by Adam."

Right. Adam. Blake's psycho ex-boyfriend. The jerk had dared turn the organization into a terrorist cell. And then he had dared to attack the school during their fourth year with hordes of Grimm and stolen military hardware. Then he had made the very, very large mistake of directly attacking both Blake and Yang directly, giving Blake a nasty scar on her hip and had completely removed Yang's right arm just above the elbow. Weiss fidgeted in her seat. He had not survived the end of the attack. Apparently, it's not wise to attack Miss Goodwitch's students during school hours.

Yes, it was true that the faculty and Headmaster Ozpin had known that Blake had previously been a part of that organization. She had been allowed entry to the school based on her skill and willingness to change her views. Most of the school had accepted her as well, both human and faunus alike. Becoming a police officer was certainly an interesting choice for the former freedom fighter. Blake shrugged her shoulders from across the table.

"I thought that if I could find a way to improve myself, it would allow me to undo any wrongs that I did while working for that bastard, Adam. So I became a cop on Pyr's recommendation. Well, not a cop, but a police detective."

Weiss tilted her head a little to one side, placing her slowly emptying mug down on the table. The coffee was getting worse the more she woke up, she was suddenly finding.

"Is there a difference between what you are and a P.I?"

"Eh, a little. I carry a badge and a gun, and private eyes in Vale are not allowed to under the Investigative Services Act. Also I don't have to make traffic stops unless the need is pertinent. Like, if I see someone conducting a car-jacking or running someone off the road I am obviously required to deal with that, but if you run a stop sign I won't bother."

"Huh. So if I'm ever in Vale, I'm allowed to break all the traffic laws?"

Blake downed the rest of her latte, and pulled out a notebook from her coat.

"Sure, what kind of car do you drive?"

"Atlas Klass- wait, are you taking this down?"

Blake shrugged, looking down into her notebook and scribbling something."

"No, no. I'm not recording this to tell all the patrol units, if that's what you're thinking."

"You're an asshole."

"Coming from- gosh what was the nickname? Oh yeah, Ice Queen."

Weiss did her best imitation of Ruby's 'maximum pout', and Blake chuckled in her direction before turning her gaze out the window. She had a distinct look of recollection on her face. One of her cat ears twitched on top of her head, flicking a few strands of her long hair into her eyes.

"Yeah, it's a bit of a high-stress job sometimes. I mean, I've been spending a lot more time sitting at my desk reading files, or sitting in my car reading fil- fuck, I've done a lot of file-reading recently. I haven't done any really strenuous activity. I mean, I put on a few pounds, even."

Blake's face fell a little at this. Weiss scrunched her brow, leaning around the edge of the table and staring at Blake's pyjama-clad legs and torso. Was the faunus lying to her? She seemed even more fit than she had been at Beacon!

"You uh...wanna tell me where the weight goes? You look exactly the same."

The woman winced.

"You're going to hate me."

"Because I don't already, Kitten."

"It uh... all goes in two places for Belladonna women."

Oh dear.

"Don't say it..."

"Tits and ass."

"Motherfucker."

Blake sighed, her face apologetic. Weiss growled and crossed her arm over her chest, glaring sharply at the other woman.

"Look, I'm sorry! It's just what happens to us! You think I want to have back pain because of these... things on my chest?"

Weiss cocked an eyebrow, a wicked smile coming to her face.

"How big? Wait, no don't tell me. I want to see if I can guess."

Blake paused for a second before leaning forward over the small circular table.

"Go ahead."

Weiss smiled, pleased that she was finally given permission to do just this exact thing. She placed her hands inside the woman's coat, her thumbs resting just under the woman's breasts and her fingers wrapped around the ribs. After about a second or two of measurement, she brought her hands up and placed them gently over the presented mounds, leaving her pinkie fingers on the woman's ribs. Anyone looking at the situation from the outside might have imagined that there was some sexual shenanigans occurring between the two women. Weiss left her hands on the breasts probably longer than she needed to, but it wasn't like she was going to pass up the opportunity to fondle such magnificent specimens. She frowned.

"I would guess a thirty-two D?"

Blake leaned back in her chair, robbing Weiss of the fondleables. She tried not to feel disappointed, as it was not her place to touch the lovely mounds.

"Double."

Ya say what?

"Huh?"

"Thirty two double D."

Weiss twitched, recoiling her hands back to her body. Her mouth dropped open just slightly, her brain not quite being able to process what she had just heard. She looked slowly down at her own chest, the measly bust, which until a few moments ago she had been proud of, just seemed pitiful now. How horribly childish she was in her figure. Thirty C, pah! She bet that Blake was this size by the time she was twelve. And now this. Weiss was upset all of a sudden. She sent Blake a barbarous glare.

"I don't like you, Blake Belladonna."

"I understand. Ice Queen."

"That's Miss Ice Queen, to you, Kitten."

As upset as she was trying to appear, she couldn't not laugh as Blake seemed to deflate into herself, her shoulders slumped into her jacket. Blake's sombre expression finally broke as well, replaced by a much nicer and softer smile. She coughed once, picking up her cup and checking it for any remnants of coffee. Weiss took a confident sip of her own drink, as if to tease the other woman that she had some drink left. Blake smiled down at the table, looking pleased with herself.

"You know..."

Weiss placed her cup down, as it was now empty. A good thing, as the end of the black coffee was much stronger and much worse than the beginning.

"Hmm?"

"...We were thinking about having kids one day."

Weiss's eyebrows shot up.

"Really?!"

Children spawned from Blake and Sun? She shuddered internally. They would most likely be the most physically superior and simultaneously elegant children in the universe. Was that fair? Well, probably not, she figured. She shook the image of the possibility of the Wukong-Belladonna kids for a moment, trying not to seem too excited.

"Yeah, well, we haven't really committed yet. I don't have a lot of freedom outside work. And it's a fairly high-stress job that is quite dangerous. Sun's also basically permanently on tour with his racing team, and I don't think it would be smart to bring a newborn around a bunch of excessively loud race cars and crowd- you seem far too excited about this."

Shit, I've been caught!

She looked out the window, shaking her head idly.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Uh huh. Suuure."

"Children, really, Blake?"

The Faunus smiled. She seemed really giddy about it, almost.

"Yeah, I kinda really want one. It's just not feasible right now for us."

Weiss paused, pondering the idea of what having kids would be like for herself, before Blake interrupted her train of thought.

"I mean, it's certainly financially feasible for us, we definitely make enough money to support kids. It's just..."

"You don't think you're ready?"

She watched Blake's face shift a few times. The faunus seemed...pensive at first, as if she was considering whether or not she really was ready.

"No, it's not that..."

"You don't think Sun could be a good dad?"

Her tablemate actually burst out laughing.

"No, I think he'd make an excellent father. Actually, we've been doing a lot of babysitting for his sister's kids recently. You remember Sky, right?"

Weiss shook her head.

"Sky Wukong? Blond, muscular, excitable, basically the girl version of Sun? Weren't you at her wedding?"

"I don't think so."

Blake paused, before waving her hand absently.

"Not important for the story. Anyway, Sky has us looking after her twin boys when she and her husband go on business trips back to Menagerie or to Vacuo. And if I'm honest, I've never seen him so relaxed and at home than when he's playing with the toddlers. It's like he... gosh I don't even know."

Weiss watched the other woman ponder. She had a very pleased smile on her face, as she reached into her coat and pulled out her scroll. The screen lit up, and she watched the faunus flip through her screens, as if looking for something. She seemed to settle on an image in her picture gallery.

"Here, look..."

Weiss took the phone as it was offered to her. The image on the screen showed everyone's favourite monkey-faunus, in a pair of cargo shorts and a flowery shirt, a big smile on his face and two blond toddlers perched on his shoulders. They were standing at the scenic overlook point at the Emerald Forest back in Vale, and the two boys had clear residue of ice cream on their cheeks. Weiss remembered Sun having a certain... livelihood in his expression usually, but this was different. He seemed... more alive, somehow.

He had a defined sparkle in his smile. Like he was really and truly happy with being a parent. Weiss sniffled. In terms of physical means, she wouldn't ever be a parent herself without the use of money and science. She couldn't stop the small amount of jealousy from pouring into her heart. She remembered hating Sun a few years ago for encroaching on their closeted little friend group. But more recently, she had found herself less and less arbitrarily upset by the tall blond monkey-man. In her eyes, he had become perfect for her former teammate. And now there was the possibility of him being even more perfect? Well, gosh darn.

"You're right. He looks very dad-ish here."

Blake took her scroll back.

"Yeah, that was when we took Sky's boys to the Forest for a road trip."

Weiss cocked her eyebrows for effect.

"A road trip, you say?"

"Yeah, for camping. You know, Sun actually started showing the twins how to fight. It was seriously cute to watch them try and emulate him with tree branches."

"I suppose you don't have any pictures of this?"

Blake leaned back with a smile.

"I have a video on my computer at home. It's pretty cute."

Damn right it would be cute. In her head at the moment was a little image of the two boys hitting Sun in the legs with sticks, and him just doing that cheeky, stupidly attractive laugh. Her cheeks flared. Did he have to be attractive? She was gay! Not even a little bit interested in men!

"Yeah, I guess it would be..."

Uh oh. She was distracted by the bad thoughts again. It was time to cover her tracks, and quickly. Her mind raced furiously as she tried to formulate a plan.

"I mean, uh..."

Blake chuckled, cutting her off.

"No I understand. Thinking about Sun gets me all hot and bothered, too."

Her cheeks had refused to calm down, as if it was protesting against her.

"Don't be absurd! I am a lesbian, Blake. I have no interest in your boyfriend."

"No, no, it's fine. Would you like to borrow him?"

"No!"

"Are you suuuure?"

Weiss sent her a vicious glare. It had no effect.

"I love Ruby!"

Blake laughed at her. Directly at her! Like she didn't believe it! The woman leaned back in her chair, her chest rising and falling quite harshly with each breath. She finished her little laugh-based betrayal with a contented sigh, leaning against the window. One of her feline ears folded against the glass, wiggling slightly.

"You do, eh? Well I guess that's good..."

Weiss blushed. Perhaps her outburst was a little much, she thought.

"Well, I, uh... I'm glad you... think so?"

Her brain seemed a little lax this morning. The lack of sleep and the harsh coffee were doing weird things to her brain at the moment. She was distracted briefly by a car passing by on the street outside. A silver Hunter Switchback coupe she guessed as it drove past, the car's louder-than-normal exhaust note rattling the window slightly. She frowned internally. As annoying as it had been earlier that she knew so much about cars, she had grown used to it by now. Ruby seemed to like it, anyways. Blake lifted her head off the glass, probably due to the car's passing as well. She spoke again, her voice a little softer.

"You know, I think you and her are right together. You...match I think."

Weiss nodded slowly, as she was unsure where she was going with this.

"Like, Ruby I think needs someone like you. More specifically actually you. You've basically been dating since first year, from my memory."

Weiss brought a hand up to her chest, feigning offence.

"We have not!"

"You kinda have, Weiss. You guys used to hold hands, go on dates, sleep in the same bed..."

"That was because of her dumb dog! And it was only once!"

Blake looked at her over a pair of invisible glasses.

"Four times. And once there was no reason to even do it, you just wanted to."

Weiss pursed her lips and tried to look offended. The tome she was referring to was the night following their beach trip to Vacuo in third year, where they had booked a hotel with only two beds. Weiss had elected to sleep with Ruby, leaving Yang to glare angrily at her pretty much all three days. Then, when they had got back to the school, on impulse Weiss had slept in Ruby's bed again, garnering even more angry looks from Yang. How did Blake even remember that! It was years ago!

"Yeah, well... as long as Yang doesn't know I think I'm fine admitting it. I value my life very much."

Blake smiled, and she looked genuinely pleased for a second. Her cheery attitude was quickly broken by a yawn, her mouth opening and her chest rising significantly. Weiss could see into the woman's mouth as she stretched, the cat-like corrugated roof of her mouth seeming to flex as she did. Blake sighed as she shut her mouth.

"Yeah, she seems overly oblivious to the two of you. She's very protective of her little sister, after all. I'm surprised the she didn't rip his damn head off..."

Blake's attitude shifted violently from happy to distant. Weiss tilted her head in her friend's direction.

"You mean..."

Blake's shoulder's slumped, prompting Weiss to cock her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I..."

Blake paused, mid-sentence, furrowing her brow and sitting up.

"Actually, can I tell you something?"

Weiss nodded, curious. Blake looked around the empty shop, as if looking for an invisible eavesdropper. There was none, of course, but the faunus woman leaned in anyways and lowered her voice to a hush. Weiss leaned in herself.

"I just... hmm, how do I explain this in an easy way... You know that Ruby had some..."

There was a pause, and Weiss tried not to wince.

"...problems with Pyrrha's partner, right?"

Weiss nodded, again.

"How much do you actually know?"

"I know that he was less than consensual with her, and that's all I need to know to know that next time I see him, I'm going to filet him like a fucking fish."

The force to which she made her delivery with caused Blake to pause, raising her brow. Weiss reached up and adjusted her glasses on her nose. However, Blake's sudden change of tone made her reconsider her smug attitude.

"Less than cons- oh, honey. You have no idea, do you?"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

The other woman leaned back, a pitiful smile on her face. There was no joy in her expression. Only anger.

"Look, this might seem like a stupid and completely out-of-place question to you, but how many trips to the clinic do you think I've made?"

Weiss frowned. The question did seem out of place.

"Uh, none? You never really got sick at school."

The faunus shook her head.

"No, not that. The... 'clinic'."

Weiss's breathing stopped, her eyes wide.

"...n-none?"

Blake stared at her, and slowly raised her index, middle and ring finger. Weiss gasped.

"Blake, I'm sorry..."

"I wasn't there for me, either."

"But, I don't-"

"I was bringing Ruby."

Weiss chocked on air. What? There for...Ruby? Her head started to spin. Blake spoke again, quieter this time.

"You know, after a while, the body can build up tolerance and immunity to certain forms of medication. And that includes the morning after pill."

Weiss had to look away. Her heart had just reached maximum beat, and it was trying to hammer itself out of her chest. He had done what?!

"She came to me, I don't know why, but she did. Asked me to help her out. She refused my insistence that she go on birth control, as well. Something about her dad seeing her health insurance requests and freaking out."

Weiss tried her utmost to not scream at the top of her lungs. She elected a harsh whisper instead.

"Why didn't she come to me?! Or Yang?!"

Blake shrugged, but more in a dejected fashion than earlier.

"She said she was scared. Said she could trust me not to kill anyone. Which, judging by your reaction now, was a good choice on her part."

Weiss's head was now fully spinning. She reeled back in her chair, not fully able to process what she had just been told.

"You...I..."

Her throat was convulsing violently, not allowing words to form in full, stopping at only minimal monosyllabic sounds. Her shoulders twitched, making her shake in her seat. The chair legs squeaked on the polished hardwood floor, making her ears twitch. Blake wouldn't make eye contact. Those amber orbs were pointed away, and had lost most of their usual glow. Her brain fell into gear. She knew what she needed to do. She needed to go to Ruby. The chair squeaked again as she pushed away from the table and tried to stand up.

"W-we n-need..."

Her legs were shaking far too much to hold her weight, but somehow she found herself standing up. Blake had somehow also made her way onto her feet, and had a very serious expression on her face.

"I need to see Ruby. Now."

Blake nodded, extending her hand to her. Weiss took it, steadying herself upright. She stumbled through the little shop, almost knocking over a chair as she made her way back to the door with the faunus in tow. She struggled to place her hand on the door handle. The cold winter air rushed into the store as she got the door cracked open with her shaking hands, and she stumbled out into the night. Blake's hands caught the fabric of her coat, stopping her from falling over and into the thick snowbank at the edge of the road. Her mind was a wreck. He had done what to her? She refused to believe it. Three times? Three fucking times?!

Before she realized what had happened, they had reached the car again, and the other woman had pulled the door open and lowered her into the passenger seat of the large black sedan. The door closed loudly beside her with a dull thud, and a flash of black jacket whipped around the front of the car, followed by the sound of the driver's door being pulled open as well. The motor started up in front of her.

"Hold on."

Weiss turned to her right, to see Blake, sitting in the driver's seat and buckling up her seatbelt. The woman reached over to the little control box on the console, picking it up in her right hand. She flicked a switch, pulling the column shift lever into gear with her left hand. The car surged forward out onto the street, picking up speed with gusto. Her attention was turned out the windshield. All the buildings around them were flashing blue and red. Everything whipped by in the windows, and the sound of the car's powerful engine filled her ears, along with the sound of the car's whooping siren.

They were ringing. She could barely hear anything. The whole world was muffled. Was this what hatred felt like? An intense burning in the chest, ringing of the ears, and horrible shakes? Everything was numb. The car lurched over, avoiding a car that refused to pull over, making her smack her head on the padded window sill. Only very briefly she snapped out of it. The hospital loomed into view at the end of the street. Inside were two women harshly affected by him. Her heart lurched.

There was Ruby, a girl who had been so innocent and naive, who had quantified his actions as 'dating' so as to not make her sister angry. Dating? Fuck off with that shit. He had only used her as a toy. One he had broken. One that only she could fix.

And then there was Pyrrha.

Her story was... different. She had been infatuated by the blond boy since the very first day of school. She pressured him into learning to fight, spending every night on the rooftops practising. That increased strength had gone to waste, as she had just found out. But the redheaded warrior hadn't stopped there. She took the man to the dance, insisted he spend time with her, and physically dragged him away whenever he was around...Ruby?

Something was coming together in her head.

After Beacon had ended, or rather, had been levelled by terrorists, Pyrrha had gotten him to date her. She had been ecstatic. Over the goddamn moon, actually. It took no more than three months after that, and they had gotten married. Weiss remembered this wedding. Ruby hadn't attended. She had asked the girl to be her plus one and everything. But, that was before she knew the whole story about their 'history'.

Something else stuck out to her. Blake's little comment about kids had made her pause earlier. He and Pyrrha had been married for two years, and they had never had any children. Pyrrha had never showed any interest in it either. It made sense now. Pyrrha had never wanted kids, because she knew she was terminal. She didn't want to bring any children into the world and then immediately leave it herself. On second though, that sounded familiar, actually. Bring a child into existence and then promptly leave and never return. Hadn't he done that himself?

The car surged forward on its brakes, and Weiss almost fell out of her seat. In her angered state, she had neglected her seatbelt. She steadied herself, one hand against the dashboard and the other against the door as the car came to a quick halt. A glance out the window showed that they were back at the entrance to the facility, the large red sign on the front of the building illuminating the snow around them ominously. Weiss fumbled for the door latch. She found it, after a brief moment of forgetting how her hand worked. She opened the door, but paused, as her driver hadn't made any indication she was going to follow.

"You coming?"

Blake shook her head.

"No, you go. She needs you."

Weiss stared for a second. Blake's expression was serious, and her ears flat against her scalp. The flashing red and blue lights of the large car reflected vividly in the amber glow of the faunus's eyes. She nodded. It was time to go inside and find her friend. No, her girlfriend. The girl who needed her most right now. Weiss stepped out of the car and shut the door behind her. The police lights shut off, leaving only the red glow from the hospital's sign. She remained outside for a second listening to Blake's car pull away and onto the street, the cold air calming her a little. The building loomed. There were no exterior lights on on the building's face or parking lot, and all of the rooms were darkened.

Save for one, on the third floor. It was still lit. Based on her own internal compass, she didn't need to guess who's room it was. She stared at it for a second. Pyrrha was up there, probably asleep, and Ruby was likely sitting next to her, scared out of her wits. She didn't need to be. Weiss was here now. She kept looking up as she went to take a step forward.

The light turned off.

Her heart stopped. So did her legs. She couldn't move, staring up at the window that not a moment ago was lit. She willed her legs to move as her brain exploded into cacophonous screaming. Her body ached.

Then, for the second time, she made her way inside.

The hospital was no more welcoming than it had been last time. The lobby lights were turned off, and the chairs were all pushed to one side of the room. The sound of a floor buffer reverberated through her like it was actually inside of her head. It was the only sound around. She stepped towards the round reception desk. The woman behind it spoke in the same aggressive tone as yesterday, before turning to see her.

"Visitation is- oh. Uh, go ahead."

Her tone shifted. It went from 'get out of my face' to 'I'm so sorry' in a split second. With all the noise in her head, Weiss barely comprehended what the woman had said. She marched past the desk, over to the open elevator and mashed her finger into the little button with the number three dimly lit on it. The doors closed.

"Please. Not now..."

The sound of her own voice made her want to cry. She could hear the tears forming in her throat. But she couldn't feel them. The screaming in her head was so deafening that she couldn't feel her extremities. The elevator lurched again, indicating it had arrived at the third floor. The doors opened. Weiss nearly fell out. She glanced to her right, down the empty halway, then to her left. Her heat leaped into her throat.

There was the girl, her face hidden by a curtain of reddish-brown hair. She had one hand placed against the wall, as if to support herself, and the other was pressed to her mouth. Weiss could see her shoulders shaking. She was unable to stop the outburst from her own mouth.

"R-Ruby!"

She stumbled forward as the girl turned her head to face her. Her eyes stopped Weiss dead in her tracks. They were not the bubbly silver she was used to. Nor were they full of life and smiling widely.

They were bloodshot red.

The tears refused to come, held back by some immeasurable feeling. She held her hand out towards the girl she loved. The hand shook in front of her, as if all of her years of balance and discipline training were for naught. The crying girl looked as if she wanted to step forward an embrace her. But then, Ruby did the one thing Weiss hoped she never would.

Ruby took a step back.

And Weiss could feel her heart break. Ruby took her hand from her mouth. There was very clear evidence on her face that she had been crying quite hard in the last little while. Her face was stained with tear streaks and salt residue. She saw the girl's face contort and wince from her place down the hall. Her mouth opened to speak. Her voice was broken and gone.

"Weiss, I..."

She looked away, her hand returning to her mouth. Her voice was muffled.

"I'm sorry."

Weiss forced her words out with all the strength she could muster. It actually hurt to see Ruby this upset and damaged. She wanted more than anything in the world to rush over and tackle the younger girl and never ever let go.

"Ruby, there's nothing to be sorry about..."

A hand was raised.

"I need to... I'm not..."

Weiss tried to move, but found herself frozen in place. She watched Ruby's face scrunch up, and the girl wipe her face on her sleeve.

"Ruby, I-"

"No. I can't."

Weiss's legs forced her forwards. One step. Two steps. Three? Ruby took another step backwards. Her heart imploded.

"I'm not... strong enough..."

Strong enough? Was she joking? This was not the time for that.

"But-"

"No. I have to fix something. But I can't. I'm not strong enough."

"I can help you, Ru-"

Ruby shook her head quite hard, her hair flopping around.

"No. I need to do this alone."

Alone?

No. This was not acceptable.

Not now.

"Ruby, we're teammates. I'm here to help yo-"

"No! I don't want your help! I have to do this!"

That was the point she snapped.

"Ruby Rose, you will listen to me! You need my help and I am going to help you. You are strong enou..."

She had to stop shouting. Ruby had recoiled even further into her skin.

"No, Weiss... please... P-Pyrrha said... she said..."

Ruby couldn't finish her statement. She stepped to the side, bracing herself against the wall. Was this happening? She wanted to scream for her to stop talking. The world was tunnelling in on her vision. She knew how Ruby was feeling. Alone, scared, damaged. She didn't want her Ruby to feel this way.

"Ruby..."

Their eyes met. Ruby's eyes were a mix of intimidating and intimidated at the same time. She looked scared. Weiss's brain had reached full meltdown.

"I'm sorry, I just..."

There was a pause. Ruby looked away, before looking back into her eyes a second time. Ruby turned her back to her, facing the staircase that was within a few feet of her.

Oh no. Please. No.

And with that, Ruby left.